Instagram Story: A Peek Into My Mind

If you follow me, Will, on Instagram (follow me @onehandman77) then you may see the Story I post each evening with some kind of message over a photo I take of the Washougal River. I usually have some thoughts on the day and many times I try to use those reflections to discuss a topic around mental health and the issues each of us has to contend with. If you’ve ever talked with me about my goals in podcasting, content creation, photography or writing, basically connecting with people, I’m trying to humanize the subject at hand. My focus is creating an environment where the consumer of my content feels like they can connect with the idea, the person, the picture or the subject right where they are. I don’t want anyone to ever feel like I’m speaking down to them or that the topic at hand is above them.

It’s become very popular to share inspirational messages on social media especially since we all spent months cooped up in our homes (thanks a lot Covid bin Laden). I think it’s nice to share these messages but I also think they have become a crutch for people to limp along their mental health journey. While consuming the words of others, aka reading, is a great thing on the whole, when it comes to inspiration I believe it’s very important for each of us to create our own positive words to push us towards our idea of “better”. I’m not saying you need to publish these messages online but I think it is vital for each of us to be our own best advocate. That’s the type of message I’m trying to convey in my Instagram Story along with pushing the reader to think. I don’t want you to agree with me, it’s great if you do, but my goal is for you to think about my words and how they correlate to you. If my words don’t jive with you, that’s perfect, because you’re thinking and thinking is becoming a scarce resource in our current cyberspace landscape.

I haven’t been posting these Stories to this website because I’m not good at being my own best advocate. Like many people, I struggle to believe in what I’m doing because imposter syndrome is one helluva syndrome, but in order to grow, I believe in getting outside of my comfort zone. Getting out of our comfort zone is a recurring theme in my writing. Until a few years ago, this was a foreign concept to me because I had not begun to learn about my mental health. Trying to figure out who the hell we are is a symptom of people pleasing and other unhealthy behaviors we pick up when we’re surrounded by normalized dysfunction. My past is littered with conflict, unhappiness and extreme dysfunction camouflaged as normal behavior in order to protect those engulfed in their own personal hell. It wasn’t until I began to get comfortable with being uncomfortable that I sought to discover the real me, what happiness looks like to me and what i’m really capable of despite zero support from those I thought wanted the best for me. I will warn each of you though, when you begin a journey like this, be very careful. Nothing can ruin mountains of work faster than resentment and regret. I would highly recommend getting in touch with a professional to help you navigate your journey. You wouldn’t try to summit Everest without a guide would you? Trust me when I say dealing with our mental health is a much harder trek that requires the assistance of our own mental health Sherpa.

I think it’s important for you to know that when I write these posts for my Story, I try my best to write them without looking back, without editing, in order to capture the true essence of my thoughts. I want them to be a picture into what I’m thinking at that moment. I don’t write them in advance and I don’t write any notes prior because I want them to be as organic as possible. I don’t get political or religious and I’m not trying to push any type of personal agenda beyond pushing the reader think for themselves. If you find the posts valuable, feel free to share them though I would appreciate attribution. I’m trying to do my little part to make the world a tiny bit better, a lot less divisive and a whole hell of a lot less “us vs them”. Greatness is the agency of others and I truly believe my contribution to society is helping each of us realize how great we are if we’ll just take the time to do the work required to find it. A diamond isn’t bright and shiny until a boatload of work is done to uncover its brilliance. The same can be said for our own shine; I just want to one of the tools you use to do the work.

I’ll post the last three photos below so you get an idea of what I’m talking about and I’ll work to put more of these on the website. I think I probably have close to 100 of these as I’ve been doing them since last year and the only Stories I’ve missed are the Friday nights when I was watching my son play football.

Well that was fun. Now I'm ready for the windchill to go away. After traipsing all around today my face looks like a Norwegian tanning for 15 minutes I remember in Alaska they wouldn't let us go outside if the windchill was either 10 or 0 degrees. It really bummed us out because we wanted to go sledding on the "big hill". The school had a great big hill we'd sled down as fast as we possibly could. I lived right next to the school so I'd bring my sled over, it was black and had steering handles on either side. I thought it looked like Knight Rider so it was an easy selection. The Hoff; it's bananas to me that he was wildly popular in Germany.

It goes to show you'll find your people if you let it happen.

I believe that's the truth, we can find our people, people that really want us in their lives because of who we are, not what we can do or have. But we've gotta get out of our own way sometimes. We try to control what we think we want. Stop. Just be you, the real you, the you excited about who you are and who you're becoming. That's who our people want. I see so many people faking it. I can hear the pain in their smile. I saw this a lot in the real estate and mortgage biz. Everyone putting on a show, ready to shake your hand, compliment your shoes, stab you in the back, steal your wallet and tell you how great it was to see you.

Maximum pain for minimal pleasure: a salesman's guide to life. Print that book right now, but I digress. I guess I mean to say don't be like me and throw up boundaries higher than the Great Wall and internalize everything. That's what your people are for, they are there for you and you are there for them, 1000%. And understand your people will challenge you to be the best version of you because they want the best for you, just like vou want it for them. We challenge each others thoughts to make us stronger with respect. Keep vour eyes peeled, they're probably closer than you think

I took this photo after 7:00 tonight. I always enjoy the brightness snow brings. Oh yeah, the snow S g how'd y'all like them apples.

Nothing makes the PNW pucker up like a few inches of snow. People drive like turnips and end up in a ditch saying turnip things like "I didn't the snow was slick". Turnips say the damndest things

Hiking around in the snow is a pretty good workout. I will say it was a little more of a trudge after leg day and my most aggressive workout of the week on the human hamster wheel.

It's fun to get out and tromp around in the snow. Or whatever else where carefree fun is the point. We get so rigid, which makes our kids rigid. They've got to know we're human, not robots chained to whatever money-making venture we partake in. They can't grow up thinking adults value stuff more than time. Maybe doing something carefree for yourself is a challenge (I would imagine there's a fair number of you us out there). I get it 1, you're in good company.

Again, step by step, start small. Set yourself up for success and most importantly, enjoy it. And if cartwheels are what make you happy, please video them and send them to me so I can share it with evervone 3

Bonus points if you do them in the snow.

Grilled a tri tip tonight. Put a light smoke using cherry wood on it. I typically don't smoke tri tip, it usually gets the steak treatment, high heat. But, this was prime-grade (#meatbrag) so it had more marbling and was a larger cut at 4.5 lbs. I smoked it for probably 30-45 minutes then threw it over the coals and raged the fire. Removed it at 127 (get a wireless meat thermometer they're a necessity) and let it rest for 10ish minutes and sliced it up. Tri tip is one of my favorite cuts of meat because it's so versatile. I'm going to try Birria with one because you know how I feel about pot roast cuts meat. I've never slow-cooked a tri tip so who knows how it'll ( go. It definitely goes against conventional wisdom.

If you you're at a taco truck and you see Birria with consume, try it. It's a slow-cooked beef in all kinds of awesome Mexican spices in a taco that's then grilled which you dunk in the consume. So good.

I've contemplated doing some kind of thing where I go try local food spots and review them. I know that's being done quite a bit but I think there's an opportunity to dive a little deeper into the food, the owner, the history, the business, that gives the viewer and potential customer a chance to understand the owner's motivations and perspective on the food they serve. And, wait for it because you know I've got to twist it a little, it'll all be gluten free because you know that's what I can do. Although I'm sure y'all would get a kick out of me eating wheat and having a reaction. See my face get all red and puffy, my eyes swollen like I went a round with Mike Tyson. Real funny stuff, I can already see you laughing. That would be hilarious and if it wasn't so miserable to endure, I'd probably do it, for the 'Gram

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